Subterfuge
by Albion19
Summary: Eden is living next door to Chandra Suresh. She begins to suspect Sylar‘s involvement in his life. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

The carriage was sweltering, people packed into it like sweaty, irritated sardines. Eden tried not to breath in too deeply, pressing her bare arm against the widow to try and find a way to cool herself down. She was infinitely glad that she just got her hair cut short, the previous weight of it being a nuisance in this weather. She held on tight to the railing as the train jerked along the rails, the lights occasionally flickering. Like a ghost train she thought.

She had done what Bennet had said, taken his daughter's name off the list and used her ability to make Chandra forget. She had gone out to get drunk afterwards. That had been some months ago, and the last time she had used her power. She felt healthy within herself for the first time in months, rejuvenated and eager. Gentle.

A pale, twitchy, grubby looking girl was flittering by the doors, set half way down in the compartment, hand nervously diving into her oversized coat then out again. Eden felt her stomach flop over. She moved back unconsciously into a broad chest behind her. Her fears came true as the girl suddenly pulled a revolver out and waved it at the seated passengers. The train was filled with shrieks and the sound of people making a mad dash away. Eden was buffeted by people running past her. Where they were stuck, plastered to the end of the carriage.

"Give me your damn money! Now!"

The lady seated in front of the robber froze, face a mask of almost comical shock, before shoving her bag at the girl. The girl flung it over her shoulder and jitter-bugging her way to the next seat. The big man in it already had his wallet out, looking mightily pissed.

"Listen here girly. As soon as this train stops at the next station, you get off. No trouble at all. Nice and easy. No one needs to get hurt. But be sure, you _will_ get your ass beat down from on high one of these days!" With that the man handed over his money with a contemptuous flick.

The girl looked surprised for a moment at he man's bravado, then shrugged her bony shoulders roguishly. She moved to where Eden and others where huddled. Eden, feeling a sprinkle of unease, moved towards the gun girl.

"Look, you don't need to take anymore. The next stop is coming up soon and everyone on here will be making for the doors. And that's why I want you to give me the gun." She moved closer slowly, someone pinching the back of her top behind her. Eden ignored them.

"It's loaded you know!" She made it sound like she was carrying a bag full of candy, not something deadly and full of lethal lead.

"I'm sure it is, but like the man said: you have cash, no one has to be injured." Eden kept her voice very low and soft, making the girl lean closer to her.

Eden was about to use her power, she could feel it floating around her mouth, when the carriage suddenly gave an almighty lurch, making everyone screech along with the haltering wheels. The train came to a jarring stop. Then the lights went out, plunging everyone in the darkness into sulphurous lime green ghouls. The screams and wails ricocheted off the metal walls.

The teenager was frozen, her eyes rolling around her sockets like a spooked horse. Eden straightened, her heart going ten for the dozen, and again moved to her. The person behind her had her top bunched in a fist now.

"It's ok, it's ok…just remain calm. Ok, now _give me -_"

"Fuck this! Fuck this shitty goddamn day! Look, whatever your name is, just put down the damn gun!"

The speaker was a forty-something woman, looking harassed and too hot. Eden was about to tell her to back off when the fat man from earlier stepped in.

"She looks like a fart would knock her over! She wouldn't be able to take all of us. Do you hear that girl!? Now stop being a nuisance and drop the gun and give back the money!"

Eden couldn't believe this was happening. She looked at the both of them in disbelief then back to the girl. She was shaking all over. She looked about fourteen. Eden felt sorry for her suddenly…and worried. The girl was on a horse-trigger.

"Listen to me, look at me, forget them. You're going to relax ok? And you're going _to give me the gun!_"

Whether she put to much emphasise in her command, or that the girl was already desperate to give it to her anyway, Eden wasn't sure. She watched the girl whip her arm around like lightning towards her, relief already melting onto her features. The gun waved wildly around and the two irate passengers

jumped her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The gun blasts where absolutely, shockingly loud in such an enclosed space. Eden felt herself go deaf, but that was furthest from her thoughts as she felt a great force slamming her back from the front. Everyone around her crashed to the ground simultaneously.

Eden remained still, sure her heart had stopped before quickly running her hands over her chest, panic flaring up. She felt a pain in her arm when she moved it. There was round red mark on her forearm. She had been hit…But there was no blood. She was ok. Eden released a shaky breath, adrenaline cursing through her. She realised she was lying on someone and quickly sat up, her head going fuzzy. She rested her hand on the floor, feeling something dig into her skin, and looked back to see who she had been using as a bed.

Sylar.

Her eyes widened in shock and recognition. Her startled state only lasted for a few seconds before concern set in. He might have been shot. She got on her knees and called his name. And Eden felt one of the oddest sensations of her life. She couldn't hear. She was speaking, words where coming out, but she was completely deaf. She gave up trying to speak and set about searching his clothes for signs of blood. She drew his t-shirt up but couldn't see anything serious. She leaned back, the irritant digging into her hand again. She looked at her hand. There were bullets littering the ground next to it. Three of them. Eden blinked in confusion, bending down to pick one up. It was still hot between her fingers. They had been stopped! She quickly gripped her sore arm, wonder entering her eyes. She looked behind her to the heap of people groggily stirring on the floor.

Someone had stopped them all from getting hit. She stared back down at Sylar, suspicion colouring her face.

She had suspected he had a power as soon as she had met him. He was hanging around Chandra after all. But she had seen nothing to cause concern though. Well, not much. The man gave her the jitters that was for sure, the one time she had got into a conversation with him, asking what his relationship with Chandra was, his face had lightened. The kind of light that Eden expected zealot missionary members heading into the wilds must have. He was flushed with excitement when talking about what he and Chandra could achieve with their study of genetics. Eden thought it best to just politely nod and not provoke him. Because Eden had got the distinct impression that he was, well…jealous of her. Of her spending time with Chandra, time that should be his she felt. He was an unsettling man, but still alluringly charismatic. Very attractive…

She was taken out of her thoughts when he started to stir beneath her, his hand going to the back of his head with a grimace. Eden quickly swiped up the bullets before anyone noticed, dropping them into her jeans. She would think on what to do about them later. About him.

When he opened his eyes he couldn't seem to focus. Concussion, Eden thought. She was just about to inspect his head when the lights came back on, making her squint. The train began to move again. Even though she couldn't hear, Eden bet there was a collective sigh of relief.

The teenager was underneath the angry lady, who was sitting on her. The man had the gun. Eden bet they already had their money back. The train had pulled into the station, which looked surprisingly normal, just a few people dotted around. As predicted, when the doors opened everyone made a haphazard stampede for them. The carriage was empty within seconds, the citizen arrest trio frog-marching out last. Eden suddenly felt someone looming behind her.

Sylar was leaning on a rail, still looking a little peaky. His eyes started to clear and Eden wanted to be gone. She didn't want him to be suspicious of her, to suspect that she knew anything. She was undercover, just the girl adjacent with the crappy cooking skills. Fairly certain that he hadn't yet recognised her and did not seem deathly hurt, she slipped out past the doors and into the blazing heat of the street above.

She would observe him closely. It was her job to do so.

And the man had saved her life.


	2. Chapter 2

-1Eden watched Chandra potter around his apartment, occasionally stopping to straighten books or tap on Mohinder's tank. He was agitated and trying to hide it. He was a vain man, she was given one of his books within moments of meeting him, and proud. So Eden thought it best to remain politely worried, hoping he would cave in and tell her. But he kept silent. Eden sighed and took the lizard from him, finally ending the stale mate.

"You know I'm a part time student right? Well I've been thinking of getting an extra small job. You know just, to have some spare cash. Nothing fancy." She could tell he was listening with one ear, the other at the door. "Your friend, Sylar, he has a shop right? Maybe I could help -"

That got his attention. He turned to her with a startled expression, looking at her as if she were mad.

"No! You…no." he took a calming breath and continued "I mean, I don't think it's likely. That is a small business and I sure he has everything under control himself, if he doesn't have assistance already. Even cleaning." He finished quickly, see as she was about to argue. Eden screwed up her mouth but kept silent, only shrugging her shoulders in an act of indifference. Eden heard Chandra's breath catch and she turned to see Sylar coming in through the door.

"You door was left open - oh." He stopped talking when he saw Eden, a false smile starting to appear on his face. He always looked at her like that, she thought, like an annoyance he was trying to calmly tolerate. Bastard. But also ideal, because it was unchanged. He didn't suspect or appeared to remember her from the train. Not only did he stare at her like she was an annoyance but also she sometimes got the unsettling feeling that his eyes where raking under her clothes. She would try to catch him at it but he would be always looking away, totally nonchalant to her.

"Yeah, I just came in to see Papa Suresh. Don't want him getting lonely do I?" She watched his lips purse tightly. He hated it when she called him Papa. Eden didn't know why she felt the need to irritate him, she just couldn't seem to help herself. Chandra wasn't her father, but she enjoyed his company and, she admitted to herself, being fused over. He treated her as a surrogate daughter and Eden felt at once flattered and uncomfortable. He had told her she'd be about the age of his dead Shanti once. The professor was a tragic man who had built a life of connections to strangers.

That false smile was back up again, this time mirrored by Chandra. Eden could feel the air becoming thick with tension. He was scared of Sylar, scared and trying to disguise it with civility. Eden couldn't decide to stay and break it or leave and see what would come of it. She didn't want to leave Chandra alone and frightened. But the professor made up her mind for her.

"Eden if you would be so kind, myself and Mr Sylar need to discuss some private matters…." He left the remark trailing and Eden caught the drift and headed for the door, passing Sylar as she did. She could feel that raking sensation again and felt a mystifying flush in the pit of her stomach, which she choose to ignore. She shut the door behind her softly, then moving to her own door where she opened it and closed it again. She moved back to Chandra's and listened through the thin walls.

She couldn't hear much at first, just muffled muttering. But then the voices began to raise in anger. She could clearly hear Chandra shout "Don't come here again and call!" at one point, then Sylar's quieter answer, she thought he was pleading. Then he began to shout, calling the professor a "hypocrite" and it was "all his fault." She could hear Sylar talking again, softly. She lend her head closer to the door, her ear pressed hotly against it. She suddenly jumped back when she heard footsteps. The door jerked open and Sylar came storming out, face like thunder. She was halfway in her door. He was staring at her at forcefully, all pretentious pretence dropped. His eyebrows lowed in suspicion and Eden felt her heart rate go berserk.

"I - I heard some shouting and got worried. Did you get in a fight?"

"Did you hear anything!?" He moved towards her sharply, and she was forced to look even more up at him.

"No, just angry voices. Is Papa Suresh ok?" She watched him with anxiety, praying he would believe the clueless neighbour act. Although it wasn't much of an act. That huge bruise on her arm was throbbing.

He stared at her hard, and Eden felt like she was smothered in hate. He was snarling at her.

"He's fine. All yours now!" With that he turned and left, not looking back. Eden breathed in relief and walked in Chandra's door. He was seated in front of his computer, staring into the middle distance. She called his name softly. Chandra started then smiled when he saw her. He sat back in his chair with a weary sigh.

"I met Mr Gray some months ago now. He was a very different man back then. He wasn't called Sylar for a start!"

"I didn't think that was really his name" Eden chipped in with a waspish voice. Chandra smiled derisively. Then his face grew serious again.

"Gabriel Gray….I thought I had found what I had been looking for. Finally, after all these decades! And he was, he was. It was the most auspicious day when I met him, and the most dreadful. If I knew what was to occur I wouldn't have taken this path, wouldn't have created - no. I set the wheels in motion, but I set no responsibility for what they go over!" He stared at her firmly, willing her to believe. Eden didn't know what to think. What was dreadful? What had he created? He certainly didn't want any blame to be put on him, from what she could tell.

"He was helping you with your research? Did you have a disagreement about something? Maybe there's a chance you could make up?" Eden found this mode of questioning futile, but she had to keep up the façade.

"Yes, you could say we had a disagreement. I'm afraid our working relationship together has come to an end and he will not be visiting anymore."

Bennet had given her certain, simple rules to live by. The first she had accomplished. The others where to keep a close eyes on Chandra and his work and report of any people with abilities that she comes into contact with. If this was to occur she must report and the rest would be left up to them. Sylar falls in to that category, but not comfortably. She still was in doubt if he did have a power. But from what she had witnessed it was a chance she wasn't going to let slip past. She needed more proof. She wanted to know what had set Chandra on edge.

Eden left the disconcerted Chandra with promises that she would be back in the morning to inflict her cooking on him. He didn't hear her. She slept fitfully that night, dreams of doors that had Sylar behind them. As soon as she got close to one Chandra would appear to close it. Sometimes he would be locked in there with him. The last dream found her waking sweaty and trembling, visions and sensations of being vulnerable and gagged, her clothes being burned away from her body and hands and lips devouring her. She awoke thinking of him, and for the rest of the day Sylar was never far from her thoughts.

That was why she found herself outside his apartment block a couple of nights later, having found his address in Chandra's open dairy. She steeled herself up, trying keep the manta in her head going: she was here for a job, nothing suspect about that. Still, her stomach felt like it was making pancakes from the number of times it flipped over. She made her way to 1b.

Eden rounded the dimly lit corner and froze. He was standing outside his door. And Eden saw something she thought she never would. Sylar was leaning back on the doorframe, breathing heavily and fast. He had his hands to his eyes, corkscrewing them as if he was tired. He was speckled in dried paint, a canvas of red, black, green and yellow, his hands covered in it. She must have made a noise because he lowed his hands and looked at her. His face was red and his eyes were puffy from crying. Eden stood flabbergasted. She had imagined a variety of things that could occur when she got here, but this certainly wasn't one of them. He squinted at her.

"What are you doing here? It is you?" He sounded congested. And exhausted. But thankfully not angry.

"I came here to ask for a job actually. And before you ask I got your address from Pa- Chandra's diary. It was open and I saw yours. Hope you don't mind?" She was blabbering.

He just shook his head.

Eden couldn't believe this was the same man, the one that gave off waves of upright supremacy. Now he looked like a bag of kicked puppies. Broken and miserable . Eden felt herself being drawn unwillingly to his suffering, a part of her wanting to know and assist. The cold, cynical part agreed at the opportunity to witness and learn.

"Are you alright? You look like you haven't slept in days!" She took a step towards him then stopped.

"I don't think I have." He was looking down at his hands in confusion. He suddenly looked back up at her with a beseeching expression.

"Do you go to church? Have you ever?"

Eden had lived in Mormon country, isolated and introverted. She couldn't admit to having any faith now, but she did.

"I used to go. Often when I could. It was one of the only places I felt…unrestricted. If that makes sense." She watched his eyes brighten somewhat. He nodded then yawned, making his jaw crack sharply. She took the plunge and walked to him, placing a soft grip on his arm.

"Have you eaten? You definitely need sleep." She trailed around him to his open door, keeping her hand on him. He kept still, resisting her. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"I needed to get out. I felt like I was suffocating in there."

"Well you can open some windows right? Leave the door open if you want." She think he heard her, but he had a dazed look, like a person who's just been told someone has died. Responsive but not really there. He felt down her arm to her hand, his fingers brushing hers but never grasping.

Eden lead him in.


	3. Chapter 3

Eden was taken aback from the state of his apartment. It was clean. Clinically, obsessively clean. There were plastic covers over the chairs and lots of old books lined against the walls. Eden's interest was heightened; she had worked in an antique book shop. No photos. Lots of mirrors. She turned to look at him in confusion. Where was the paint? He was also covered in a fine layer of dust, but this place was absolutely spotless. The apartment seemed like it was meant for someone much older then the young man in front of her. Who was swaying.

Eden moved closer, feeling her stomach scrunch up when she did. Every time she went near him it was like getting close to some wild animal that you're told is tame. She brushed aside this irrational though and placed her hands on his forearms.

"Where do you sleep?"

He blinked down at her owlishly, exhaustion seeming to come from him in waves. He turned to the corridor and Eden followed behind him to his bedroom.

Single bed. Not a crease or wrinkle in place. More books. Strange, strange man.

He drew back to covers and sat down. Eden stood awkwardly. He had her hands in his.

"Erm, I'll just leave you ok?" He looked so miserable and lost, staring up at her with wet eyes. Eden felt her hand automatically stroke his hair. He closed his eyes. She could have been anyone at this moment, of that she was sure. She wondered suddenly where his mother was. Eden pulled away from him gently.

Eden walked backwards out of the room as he laid down. She was going to go, it was very late, but the books drew her attention. She took one down tentatively, a book on philosophy, and sat down. The chair made an annoying squeaking noise. Eden shifted and set the book down on her knees to read. She would leave in a bit…

Someone squeezing her knee woke her. She blinked away the sun in her eyes. Sylar was crouched down in front of her with the book under one arm. The other left her leg. Both were clean. She sat up quick, her neck stiff and sore.

"Shit! What time is it? I fell asleep."

"I gathered that." He said coolly.

She could feel herself blushing and apologised. He stood up and went to put the book back. She could feel the plastic sticking to her skin. It made a sucking noise when she got up. She went redder. He turned back to look at her.

"I thought I had dreamed you. Guess not."

Eden was made acutely aware that she was in a stranger's house. Always an uncomfortable feeling, made even more so by the fact he seemed slightly displeased. He was staring at her hard, eyes boring into her head. She couldn't believe she compared him to puppies earlier! He must remember what happened, and is feeling embarrassed she reasoned to herself.

"Like I said, I fell asleep. I only came in here to help, you seemed sort of out of it." She knew immediately that was the wrong thing to say. He stiffened and his face went stone.

"I don't know what you mean." His eyes darted to the mirrors behind him and back again. He started to look suspicious.

"I wasn't snooping if that's what you think!" There was a long, tense silence. Neither wanting to speak of what had taken place before.

"I came here to ask for a job remember? If you're offering that would be great. Cleaning maybe? But I'll leave if you want? I said I'd go see Chandra this morning…" Eden stood apprehensively. She wanted to be gone, but a part of her was desperate to stay. He stood like a statue for a few seconds, she could almost see the cogs whirling madly in his head. The he seemed to change, another mask falling into place. He looked pleased.

"Of course. Sure, that would be fine. You can use the bathroom if you want?" He smiled at her warmly.

Eden looked at him wearily. A moment ago he seemed ready to kick her out the door, now he's all hospitable. She decided it was in her best interests to go with it.

"Ok, thanks." He pointed her down the short corridor. She washed her face and brushed her teeth with her finger. She did it quick, feeling like her very presence in the sterile place was causing it to be dirtied. She opened the door and went back to the living room. He wasn't there. She walked back down to his bedroom. Feeling nosy, she crept in to have another look. Bed neatly made. He was a total neat freak. Maybe he had a compulsion. He probably didn't even need a cleaner…

She had got on her knees on the floor to have a look at his books, then stretched over his bed to look at the ones above it, careful not to disturb the mattress. Books on art, psychology, horology, biology. It went on and on. She was keenly aware when she first met him he was very intelligent. What the hell was he doing fixing watches? Well, he's involved with Chandra now. Was.

Having them separated was not ideal. She couldn't watch both of them. She needed them together. Eden was resting her knee on the bed. She looked at the wooden headboard and her dream from days earlier suddenly flashed before her eyes, causing a hot flush in her. Someone cleared their throat behind her. Eden shrieked and ended up sitting down on the bed.

"Creeping Jesus! You should wear a bell!" Realising she'd been caught peeping, she put on a mollified expression. He was smiling in bemusement.

"Sorry. I promises to warn you before I scare you next time."

Eden's lips curved into a derisive smile, eyes sweeping him. He was all clean now, clean and gorgeous. She suddenly realised he was between her open legs and shot up from the bed. He stepped back, his eyes slightly creased with mischief.

Was he doing it on purpose? But Eden dismissed the thought when he again looked indifferent. That old look.

"I couldn't find you. Where did you go?" They where back in the living room. His eyes again darted to the mirrors.

"I went in the kitchen."

"Right." Silence stretched out again.

"What happened? Between you and Papa Suresh?" She waited, breath in her throat, convinced he'd not answer. But he did.

"Me and _Papa _had a disagreement about something. He thinks I'm too…extreme in my methods. He's totally paranoid. I tried to apologize and was shown the door." He looked furious. "We were meant to do it together. Both of us finding and helping these people. But he turned his back on that! " His features softened, calmed, looking at her hopefully. "Maybe you could talk to him? Try and persuade him to see sense?"

Eden felt like he was asking more, like a man who was expecting her to throw him a life line. She wasn't going to persuade Chandra to do anything, but she would try to reason with him. She felt that tightening sensation again as Sylar moved closer to her, looking down eagerly at her. _Kiss?_ His fingers closed down on her arm. She hissed through her teeth and pulled back, hand cupping her bruise gently. He looked surprised but moved into her personal space again, his hand gently covering over hers. Eden could almost hear her heart beating. She wouldn't be surprised if she was vibrating with it.

"You'll help right?" The words came out in a low purr. Eden trapped a moan in her throat. She couldn't speak, so she nodded. She couldn't look away. _I'm being hypnotised._ The thought was fleeting but assured. Everything was heaving.

Suddenly, whatever it was, snapped and he was stepping to the door behind her. All polite distance again. Asking her to visit his shop tomorrow to work out the particulars. The door closed behind her with a civil clap.

Eden stood slightly stunned. _What the hell just happened? Did he just come on to me? _Eden tried and failed to ignore the writhing excitement and lust in her. Instead she pushed it down, like a lid over a great pressure. Shakily she left and made her way home.

She opened her front door and spotted a note on the floor. She picked it up and read:

_Dear Eden_

_I shall be away for a few days on work purposes, meeting some newly made friends. If you would be so kind as to feed Mohinder? I would be grateful. I would have told you in person but you seemed to be out. _

_Professor "Papa" Suresh._

Eden guessed that his being away for a time was fortunate, as she wouldn't be so stretched between watching him and Sylar.

Sylar. She tried to push him from her mind, he was someone to be watched and only that, but her body would not follow suit.

The next afternoon Eden waited outside Gray & Sons, watching Sylar through the gloom. He was standing very close to a blonde woman, both stood against a wall at the very back of the shop. The scene was intimate. From what she could see past his back, the woman looked intoxicated. A flash of his white grin smeared across a mirror.

Eden experienced an unexpected swell of jealousy. She felt hot and prickly. She moved away, needing to distance herself. She would come back tomorrow.

But she didn't go home, she walked the streets, never straying too far from his shop. Eden berated herself for being unprofessional, she shouldn't care, shouldn't have let her ridiculous feelings pull her away. That was why she found herself much later walking into his shop, with a sure and determined step.

He was sat at his work bench, dropping food pellets into a fish bowl slowly. A fat black goldfish swam in lazy circles. He caught her reflection in the glass and sat up.

"Hi. You're late!"

He looked completely different from the tired, hurt man from earlier. Gone to was the frigid distance. He was enormously happy, eyes sparkling and mouth continuously flickering into a grin. Eden expected him to start bouncing on his feet in any minute.

"Yeah, sorry, I was busy. You seem very joyful!"  
_  
_

_Post coital bliss perhaps?_ Eden told the voice to shut up and watched him put the bowl back up on a cabinet.

"I had a visit from someone, and was given something very…special"

"A clock?"

"Something like that."

_Yeah right_

Now his attention was fixated completely on her and Eden felt self-conscience under his now calm scrutiny. She was back up against a filing cabinet and she suddenly saw that women's dazed face.

"You're hot"

"What?"

"You're sweating. You should take that off." He pointed to her cardigan, that she was over her sleeveless dress. Over that bruise that had become a mottled, deep purple stain. It was so painful sometimes she could hardly move it. Proof of his potential on her arm.

"I'm fine. So have you reached a decision?"

He nodded. "You said cleaner right? Well I could use one. But only to polish the glass cabinets and hover. You can't move anything ok? And if you do, it has to be back in it's place. Exactly. If you're up to standards, I'll teach you how to clean the timepieces. But for now that's it."

Jesus Christ the man was pedantic personified. She smiled and nodded, trying to keep the simper from her face. He gave her the keys, instructing her that she should come at night when the shop was closed. He would be there from time to time. They were at the door, leaning against the frame, facing each other. He looked at her inquiringly.

"Have you seen Chandra?" His face fell when she shook her head.

"He's gone away for awhile. On work business." Eden watched his face perk up. "Yeah he wrote something about meeting new acquaintances." Eden was sure she had imagined it, for a second later the look was gone, but his face had become a frightening mask of greedy longing. She felt herself shudder internally. "I'm feeding Mohinder."

"Who?"

"His lizard. It's named after his son. Didn't you know?" Eden watched a peeved look appear at the fact she knew something he didn't. He must have caught her pleased expression and leaned in closer to her.

"You did that intentionally. Why do you do that?"

Eden raised her eyebrows in shocked innocence. "Do what?" Her lips twitched teasingly. He was very close, long thick eyelashes inches from her face. And suddenly Eden didn't care about the job, the spying. She would like nothing more at that moment then for him to -

"May I?"

"Sorry?"

His eyes were ruby dark and wine filled. "May I come over? To Chandra's?"

Eden felt like she had been plunged in a lake of ice._ He's using me!_ Eden was placed on an aching edge, on one side disgust the other apathy to it. She stayed poised.

"Sure. Be outside my door at 8. Night."

He looked cat fed satisfied. He pushed his body away from hers. Eden stepped out the door and made her way down the sidewalk. She felt sludge filled and aquiver with contained desires.

His eyes ate her up till she was lost in the dusk.


	4. Chapter 4

Warning: this chapter and the next include M rated smut. Enjoy :)

* * *

The sun was setting, seeming to move like it was stuck in treacle. She felt like time was holding it's breath, suspended. The storm clouds hanging low had turned a burnt, maroon colour. An eerie orange light illuminated everything. The night was still and uncomfortably sweltering. He was late. Eden plucked her lose fitting T from her body, trying to circulate some air, dreading and eager for the knock at the door. 

He wanted to come with her to Chandra's. Why? So he could see her feed a lizard? Eden scoffed. She knew why he was coming and it disgusted her. But the disgust was overwhelmed by more lascivious sensations that wouldn't be repressed.

There was a soft tap. He was standing against Chandra's door, watching her come forward like an animal would to food. Eden felt herself blush. She was suddenly acutely aware of her shorts riding up against her. She opened the door, his body a shadow behind her. He moved in front of her, walking to the map. The pictures and strings where gone. He turned with a frown.

Eden fed Mohinder, listening to him open and close the draws in the desk. He slammed one shut with a curse. She gripped the top of the tank convulsively.

"The computer's gone."

He looked at her with a miffed expression as she turned her head to look at him. She shrugged.

"He must have taken it with him. Why do you care?" She watched him shrug and move to the answer machine. No messages. "He's probably gone to see one of his _superheroes._" She put a derisive emphasis in her words. He looked up at her with consideration.

"You don't believe that these people exist? In his research?"

"I think the professor is an amazing man, there's no disputing that. But do I believe that people can walk through walls or fly? No way. He tells me about these people he's met and the people he hopes to meet, and I can't but feel so sorry for the poor man. He's chasing a dream." The room was silent. Eden was about to turn and face him when she felt his breath at the back of her neck. She stopped breathing.

"People he's met? Like who?" Eden felt her insides turn hot and molten. His voice was liquid smooth. Eden tried to keep her head together.

"People on the list. He's been searching for them since the 70's I think. After his daughter died…" Her voice was breathless.

"Do you know their names?" He had placed his hands either side of hers. She was enveloped by him.

"I- I can't think. Erm, yes he's told me their names. But I can't remember now. We would talk for hours…The last time he was excited about some people in LA. _What am I saying!? _You talked to him. Worked with him! Surely he told you?"

Eden felt the rumble in his chest against her back as he spoke.

"No. He didn't. He stopped telling me. But _you…_"

Eden felt his hands grip her waist tightly, his mouth against her ear. "You'll tell me…" With a great effort Eden kept herself on the ground, even though the raging desire in her was threatening to cast her adrift. She was not going to play his game. He would play hers. She turned to him.

"Will I? And what will you do for me hmm?" She stood on tip toe. "Sit down" she mouthed softly. He moved backwards to the desk, a slightly uncertain smirk forming as he sat. She smiled at him, resting her knees either side of him as she sat down on his lap, straddling him. He stared up into her face, eyes flickering. He didn't know what to do. Eden wrapped her arms around his neck and as she whispered in his ear, started to grind her groin against his very slowly. His fingers tightened around her hips with a gasp.

"I was a back up. You were probably going to try and fuck me to get names or to get in Chandra's good books again." Eden stopped her moan between her teeth. Her shorts were continually rubbing against her clit. But she didn't stop. He was trying not to swivel his hips against her. She did it harder. "I've been watching you with Chandra for months. You treat people all the same. Like pawns. You use them, only forming relationships if they have something to offer you. Not me. Not me" _Not anymore._

He was hard, breath coming in short outbursts as he pushed up against her shorts. He moved forward to kiss her.She jerked her head away. If he did she would be lost. She was second away from snapping. She was so wet she wouldn't be surprised if it was seeping through her shorts.

"Please, please…Oh god." Her breasts were flat against his chest, pelvis bone gyrating into his lap as he bucked beneath her.

"This doesn't mean anything does it? Like that blonde woman in your shop. What happened to her?" She didn't know what possessed her to say it, but it certainly had an effect on him. He became static, looking at her with sharp surprise. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. She'd made him speechless. Then his gaze became heated and he pushed her away and started to undo the button on her shorts. Like she hadn't said anything. She pulled his hands away and moved close to his face, their laboured breathing mingling. She liked the desperate look he was giving her.

She looked into his eyes as she licked his bottom lip, then crushed them against hers. His tongue plundered her mouth. She kissed him back, lost in the moment. She moaned into it and drew him closer, hands gripping his hair in fists. He broke away for air, while his hands grabbed hold of her ass, bringing her body nearer to his erection. She swivelled in abundance. His head was thrown back and eyes squeezed shut, groans and pleas issuing from the back of his throat. He was going to come soon.

Suddenly he jerked upright from the chair. She had got off him, and was backing away. His arms shot out for her.

"No!"

Eden had made up her mind before she had even stepped foot in the apartment: he would dance to her tune. But he wasn't going to have her. She curled her hands into fists and turned from him to the door. It was like turning away from black hole. She was quivering with unrealised sex. But her

plan didn't go as intentioned.

"That's not the way it goes! You're not better!" She had no idea what he meant. Suddenly he was behind her, hands grasping the front of her shorts and pulling her towards his chest. He moved her to the desk. His fingers yanked down her fly and his hand was down the front of her knickers. She must have screamed because his hand was over her mouth. His fingers found her sopping wet and he drove them up her. She shrieked through his muffling fingers. He bent her over the desk. She could hear him panting. It happened within a matter of moments.

_Stopstopstop._

"Don't scream." His hand was drawn away from her mouth. She drew in a great, shuddering breath. She could stop him, she could. But she wasn't. _Why aren't I?_ Instead she shoved back against the fingers in her, pushing them deeper. She felt too hot. Suddenly the hand was gone from within her, she could hear his zipper being lowed. Her shorts were roughly pulled down her legs. Then her knickers. She could hear the material ripping. She scrapped against the table, before grasping either side of it as she felt her legs being spread wide, then the tip of his cock brush her pussy. Eden bit her lip as it was entered into her very slowly. Both of his hands grasped her hips, raising her rump up.

He had stopped, fully sheathed in her. Eden felt his lips brush the back of her neck as she groaned. He was big and she wasn't ready. He bent closer to her ear.

"I'm going to fuck you into this table till it breaks."

He was angry. Angry and turned on. Eden couldn't help the pleas that poured from her mouth as he moved out of her slowly and then jammed back in. The movement was at once uncomfortable and satisfying. Her breasts where pressed against the surface of the table, scraping against it as he fucked her. She still had her T-Shirt on. Eden felt painfully hypersensitive. Every thrust into her, the fingers digging into her fiery skin, his breathless words behind her all mounted up, and all she could do was scream.

"So good, so good! Eden sssh…" His voice was a sensual overload. The table was jerking and creaking with the force of his movements. She was gasping with every breath, on the cusp of climaxing but she couldn't find it. His thrusts became faster, harder. Eden suddenly felt his fingers flat against her clit. She gyrated against them, mouthing nonsense words into the wood as he fingered her. She started to flex and tighten around him, making him shout. His hand was up the back of her top, grasping her shoulder tight as he bucked into her. She was so close! He bent down and started to murmur a string of words into her ear. Eden's breath left her as she listened to the filth he was growling at her.

And then she found it. She screamed out his name over and over again as she came, her forehead pressed hard into the table as she convulsed and jerked in pleasure. He was almost whimpering at this point, as his cock was surrounded by a gush of her fluids. He forced her closer to him with his hand against her mound, pounding and bucking ferociously into her, before it turned into a enjoyed yell as he ejaculated, his cock throbbing and pulsing deeply in her. Then everything was still and silent. He was heavy against her back, chest heaving.

Eden laid on the surface, sticky and sweaty, her breathing that of someone who had run a marathon. She sucked in air that didn't seem to be there. Her fingers felt stiff from the grip on the table edge. She stared unfocused, listening to him next to her ear. He carefully pulled away, moving away, leaving her. She had a fleeting thought that she couldn't feel his semen in her. She couldn't move. He placed his hands back on her and turned over a rag doll.

"Eden?"

That wasn't concern she saw. She watched him like sleepwalker. He placed his hands flat against her stomach, moving them up. She closed her eyes as he moved them to her back and forced her upwards. She tried to feel numb, because the feeling hadn't gone away, but intensified. She forced herself to look him in the eye.

"I've wanted you to do that for a long time. But I didn't want _that_. Not in that way. That was the worse thing you could have done. Made even more so because I wanted - I _want_…" She stared at him in desperation. He was unreadable. He tilted his head to the side slightly and moved down. His lips softly brushed hers, feather light. He was holding back, trying for the sake of experiment she thought.

Eden found herself being picked up, his arm under her bottom, the other a band against her back. She drew her knees around his hips. She was kissing him back with a rising need as he moved to the bedroom. Chandra's.

"No. Go to mine." His mouth tightened, he wanted to do it there she saw, but he lowed her to the ground. They made it to her apartment, to her bed. And he took her again and again and again. The whole night she let him dominate her, something she promised herself she would never let anyone do again. But her will was shattered with ever gasping plea she uttered.

She wasn't surprised when she awoke alone in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

The vinegar was cloying in such a small space. Eden wiped the cloth over the glass repeatedly. Smear free. Like it had always been. She threw the material to the ground, finally coming to realize the futility of her efforts. _I'm so stupid. What the hell am I doing?_ It had been days since she had seen him, since she woke to her empty bed. She had to admit to feeling relieved. She felt confused and mixed up and seeing him so soon after would make her feel doubly so. She knew he was using her, probably to compete with Chandra's research, but not to the extent she was using him. She was using someone not for her own gain, but her own pleasure. Just like before. He was a distraction that she couldn't have. She had to end it. She shut up the shop and made her way to his place.

She was hoping from foot to foot by the time he answered the door. His eyes swept her quickly before looking away. _He can't be shy?_ He opened the door wider to invite her in. Spick and span as usual. He walked to stand against the mirrors, body shielded behind a chair. Her hands where shaking from the force of her heart beat. She just had to get it out fast then leave.

"I can't see or work for you anymore. I'm sorry. This relationship, or whatever it is, is completely deceitful. I mean, I don't think we've ever actually had a decent, long conversation together! We don't know each other at all. You're acting on my feelings to get what you want and - I I'm playing on that too. It's just a thing of convenience…" She found it increasingly difficult to express herself, as he was now staring at her with a calm and collected intent. Too intently, like a mouse he's about to pounce on.

"Look, I - I won't lie that it was amazing. You where…" She trailed off shakily, her insides seizing up with embarrassment and longing. His hands had tightened on the back of the chair and Eden fleetingly remembered them entangled in her short hair, pushing her downwards. "But I just can't." She watched with surprise as the wolf like gleam gradually dripped from his eyes. His body seemed to hunch over slightly. He looked at her with subdued hurt.

Eden's mind whispered to her that he was very probably putting on an act, but her empathy, her heart simultaneously melted and expanded right down to the tips of her toes. Till then she had kept her distance out of awkwardness but she moved closer, entranced by his docility. Like the first time she seen him at this place. She laid her hand on top of his, stomach flickering like a lightening storm.

"If those names are so important to your research then beg, persuade Chandra to listen to you. You can't use me as a go between."

His eyes ,that had been on her hand, drew up to her. "He won't listen. It's not my fault, it's really not. I can't help it. I feel _so hungry_ all the time…" The brown in his eyes had darkened with emotion, pain making them ebony. She jerked slightly when his lips where suddenly pressed to hers, pillowed and timidly eager. She reached up and drew him into a hug, squeezing tight before breaking away. _His ambition is like an addiction to him._

His large hand was at the small of her back, drawing her to him again. "Just give me names, what ever you can remember, just this once, and I'll give you what you want. What you crave. Give it to me." He was caramelised velvet in her ear. She didn't even contemplate leaving, the look in his eyes was enough to eradicate her resolve. They drew her to his bedroom, eyes lightening and smouldering with a inner heat. After all, this would be the last time.

He striped her in the dark. Every piece of clothing removed for a name. He was on his knees, fingers hooked into the hem of her underwear. Face turned up at her, eyes glinting from a mysterious light source. She told him a first name and they where lowed to her thighs. Surname, and they fell to her feet. He flowed up to his full height, whispering for more, thumb brushing down a bra strap, then another. Hands moving to unclasp it at her back.

Name after name.

She stood before him naked, her physical vulnerability strangely making her feel confident, strong. His body heat next to her made her aware that he was as bare as she, the gloom making it hard to see. Her hands moved over his haired chest, down his abdomen to the erection there. She squeezed and he caught her wrist away, grabbing another and backed her towards the bed. Long fingers wrapped around her waist and she was thrown roughly on to the mattress. She laid sprawled, breathing laboured in anticipation. Then she felt the bed dip at her feet as he got on his knees there. Hands clasped her feet, running up to her shins, spreading her legs apart. She pressed her head back into the pillow with a moan, waiting for what would happen. He didn't move.

"Please."

"Name…"

"…Daniel." She was jerked further down the bed to him. "Farrow." A tongue swirled around her knee, moving upwards to kiss her thigh. His hands cupped her hips and lifted her higher. She could feel his hot breath on her sex.

"For every letter you give me, I'll keep going…"

Her hands automatically moved into his thick hair, tugging slightly. "Oh god…B." Thumbs spreading her lips apart. "A." Mouth moving closer to her. "R." Tongue flicking the tip of her clit. She jerked upwards with a cry. "Please, please." He looked up to grin at her and Eden's stomach fluttered. She drew in a long breath "B.A.R.A" She screamed in pleasure as his tongue circled her clitoris repeatedly, hard and fast. His hand, that had been on her hip, moved to her entrance, finger tips brushing around her swirling wetness. Her legs were shaking, she could feel herself moments from release but he had stopped again. She gasped the surname, not bothering to keep playing the laborious game. Two fingers pushed upwards through her slick passage. His lips where on her hip, then he skimmed them across her skin, drawing upwards to her breasts.

"Jesus. Erm, Linda Tavara." The fingers pulled back out, then where swiftly rammed back. Her hips lifted upwards as she groaned, hand leaving his head to grip the bed cover. His mouth was gently kissing around her areola, before pressing his tongue flat against her nipple. He drew and sucked it into his mouth with another name from her lips. She tightened around his thrusting fingers, wanting more. She must have said so because another finger entered her. He was preparing her for him. He bit and sucked at her, teeth tugging and scraping. His thumb found her clit and worked that, and her, into a frenzy. Her fingers brushed down the side of his face, making him break away from her skin with pop.

"I want another name!" He pressed her deeper into the bed, his arousal evident against her stomach. She rubbed against him and his fingers left her. He drew himself up on his hands, cock against her thigh. Eden's mind was awhirl, she just wanted release, but knew she couldn't find it without him.

"Farrow!"

"You've said that. Do you have anymore?" She heard the slightest hint of desperation in his voice.

"I can't give you anymore."

"Can't or won't?" He was becoming suspicious, and rightly so. She'd been partly lying through her teeth. The tip of him had been hovering near her opening, but he got up away from her. She quickly moved to catch him, finger nails spearing into his skin. She found herself moaning at him to bind her hands. To punish her. His eyebrows raised in surprise. But he was off her and quickly grabbed that which came to hand. Ties. He wrapped them tight around her wrists, then the other ends to the slots on the headboard. She was completely at his mercy. Almost. She was seconds away from begging to be gagged, could almost taste the cloth in her mouth, but kept quite. She could be silent. He was waiting, positioned over her, for more. And she couldn't. She saw clear disappointment in his face as he started to move off her again.

"Sarah Ellis!" Her hand moved to cover her mouth in shock, the tie hindering the action. The hungry, triumphant look in his eyes made her shudder to the core. "You're not getting anymore. Not now. I'm sorry, I- I made them all up." She could feel the list inside her, waiting to be divulged. She knew deep down, some initiative maybe, that she shouldn't be giving him names. Like she had just given her own. Like the real names mixed with the false that had flowed from her mouth like smoke. She tried to move to the other side of the bed, away from him, but he caught her shoulders and forced her back down on to the bed. His body was pressed intimately to her, stomach and chest flat against hers, hands forcing down the pillow either side of her head. The force against her formed a thrill inside, that was released in a noise of need. Did it really matter if she gave real names or not? As long as he believed they were the truth. More supers found, the better after all. But thoughts of the list were overwhelmed by her heat, her desire burning it to ashes.

"Sarah Ellis, that was real." He was staring at her accusingly.

"It's…mine." She looked into his eyes, willing him to acknowledge how important the reveal was. And she thought Gabriel Gray did. His eyes softened. Eden felt like she had just given him a witch's tithe. She closed her eyes as his mouth pressed down on hers softly, coaxing them apart with his tongue. His penis started to rub against her opening, lubricating himself. She grinded herself against him, moaning into his mouth. Eden gave a choked cry as he forced himself into her without warning, pushing and filling her up in one movement. He pushed himself up on his hands with a sigh of relief and began a steady rocking motion. She began to rock her hips up to meet him, grabbing the ties in her hands hard. Then his head dipped, mouth at her breasts again, sucking and licking at her nipples, making her back arch and whimpering pleas for him to continue.

"Harder. _Harder!_" She wasn't sure if her power was behind her command but his hands were on her legs, pushing one back untill her knee was touching the mattress, while the other was thrown over his shoulder. Then his cock was thrusting fast, pounding bruisingly hard. Eden felt her breath whoosh from her lungs with the force of it. The bed was banging against the wall, making the books above her shake. He must have seen her nervous glance and reassured her with a kiss. His lips moved to nibble her jaw, his moans audible in her ear, before he was kissing her neck. His thrusts were becoming deeper and less rhythmic. Eden's eyes focusing to where they where joined, watching him enter and leave her, cock glistening. He was still unprotected. She threw her head back, air passing her lips in ragged gasps.

"You're still n -not wearing - ahhh god. _Yes!_" Her question left her as he lowed her leg from his shoulder and pushed that back like the other, both hooked over his forearms. He began to fuck her with a fervency, moaning her name with every slamming thrust.

"_Sarah!Sarah!Sarah!Sarah!_"

She was going to come, the wave of lightening building, swelling up. She started to beg for release.

"Say my name and - _ohh fuck_ - I - I'll let you."

He was just as ready as she, her tightening pussy making his eyes squeeze shut with a whimper. She started to tighten around him every time he pushed in. He drew in a great breath and held it.

"_Gabriel_." Eden watched his eyes fly open in surprise before they rolled back, face going slack in pleasure. His come shot into her thickly, shooting upwards to her womb. She cried out as she came wetly around him, jerkily tugging hard at her restraints. Their screams bounced off the walls as they bucked in a frenzy against each other, making the tiny bed creak and shudder till their orgasms passed. He slumped on top of her, breathing hard as he pulled out. Then he was reaching for her bindings, untying her. Eden winced as she lowed her arms, her fingers feeling numb with the lack of circulation. He rubbed his hands along them before kissing her raw wrists gently. She suddenly found herself kissing him all over his face, hummingbird fast, before turning away to sleep. She caught his look of shock turning to pleasant bemusement as she did. They rested close, him lying behind her. There was no other alternative in such a small bed. She fell asleep with his arm snaked around her waist, and his soft breath by her ear. She drifted off.

She woke to find him prowling across the door, then back again. He looked twitchy. She got up for the bathroom before dressing quickly, feeling hungry.

He was sat in a chair, but got up as she entered. His eyes were never still.

"Are you ok?" He paced restlessly. She was getting dizzy watching him walk in circles. She caught his arm.

"I'm fine. Just feel…trapped again. I need an open range."

Eden could tell it was an effort to say that. But something about the phrase set her on edge. That wolf like look had risen again. "You make it sound like you're going hunting." His roving eyes fixed on her. She desperately wished it came out sounding more jovial, instead of an accusation. That calm blanket enveloped him again.

"You're going." It wasn't a question. She nodded, not knowing what else to say. His mask like face didn't move. She turned to the door, reaching it and paused. She turned to consider him. She never did find out for sure…

"Ok, I know you convinced me that you couldn't get me pregnant. But that doesn't explain the absence of -" She nodded her head towards his crotch. And she was the rewarded the sight of his face turning bright red. Her eyes widened.

"I erm…Well, you see…Oh what the hell." He sighed "I can use my power to stop…_it_. Like a shield." The look on his face would stay with her till she died.

"And what power would that be?" He kept quite, but she finally had her answer. And it had taken only one simple, embarrassing question. She shook her head at the man's confusing, ever changing state and watched him standing frigid. But she knew what she was really doing. She was putting off leaving. Suddenly he pinned her with an earnest glance.

"It wasn't all an act, was it?"

"As much as it was for you, I would hazard…" He nodded, apparently content with her answer. Not so much for her though. This time she left for good.

She had scrubbed down Chandra's place, to remove any signs they had been there before he got back. Once he had returned he had told her animatedly about someone he believes can teleport and all Eden could do was try to look genuine. She had never felt so false in her life. She had let her emotions hinder her job. She had given Sylar names, people that Chandra had worked hard to find. Just so she could get what she wanted - . Eden's thoughts where interrupted when she noticed Chandra frowning down at his newspaper. She looked over his shoulder.

"What's the matter?" He was looking at a small article about a missing person. A woman who had disappeared a few days ago. Pam Green. Eden felt something from the pit of her stomach, something writhing and venomous, trying to rise. It was her. The blonde woman from the shop.

Chandra had got some scissors and was cutting it out. He had a cardboard folder open. Eden could see more clippings. More missing people. She looked at him with confusion, dread held at bay.

"This woman, Pamela Green, had come to see me a few days ago. She was in an anxious state, terrified about what was happening to her. Such a lovely woman. Cryokinesis…"

"Cryowhat?" She felt shaky. She took a seat next to him.

"It means the ability to emit ice. When she left me she seemed…non to soothed. Maybe she went, maybe…"

Eden could tell he was more worried then he was letting on. Eden asked the question she was already forming the answer to. "So you think all these missing people are connected? They're all superheroes? What do you think happened?"

Chandra stared at her uncertainly, battling to tell her or not. "I believe that they are connected. These_ superheroes_. I think that…someone is targeting them. But I have no proof…"

Eden couldn't hold back anymore, she had to know. "Papa Suresh, I - I want to know about Sylar. Does he have a power and does he know about this?" She watched him nervously, waiting for him to shut up like a clam.

"I believe he does, yes. Why do you ask?"

"I thought that, as your work involves people with powers, you would be working with one."

"Are you admitting to believing me now?" He was smiling kindly, but the worry was still clear in his eyes.

Eden smiled back weakly "Maybe?" She watched him gather the papers and put them away. Out of sight out of mind. Ha.

She left his apartment, feeling like she would vomit at any moment. She had to inform Bennet about what she had gathered. But not all. Never. She stopped before she reached her door, as something bright shined into her eyes. There was a fish bowl resting at the foot of her door, the sun was glinting off it's edge. Then the gleam was gone, leaving a dazzling after image in her eyes.


End file.
